Not officially, but you can pretty much pencil them in now. They have to just get a point against Florida tomorrow night to win the division.
Carolina did everything but score more goals than Florida tonight. They didn't draw a penalty, had a ridiculous shot advantage, and still lost. It was there for the taking over the last two weeks against divisional opponents they have beaten all year. Instead, they finished the season going 2-3-1 in their final six games, including a shootout and a regulation loss to Washington and losses to Florida and Tampa. In hindsight, it seems fairly obvious the Canes were crashing back to earth after that great stretch coming out of the All Star break. The last several games looked very much like their ugly stretch during the end of 2007 with defensive lapses, problems getting goals, and Ward giving up bad goals. In sum, they probably didn't deserve to make the playoffs the way they finished out. They'd just have been cannon fodder for someone in the first round anyway.
*sigh*
